|
|
Post by myrthman on Dec 3, 2007 17:20:46 GMT -5
Time travel bits are usually sci-fi, but I'm wanting to include it in a high fantasy tale I'm working up. I have my time "machine" and what the characters have to do to succeed in their quest. I guess I'm wondering about all the explanation and "science" behind it. To borrow from another thread in this forum, am I "morally obligated" to explain how time travel works in my world or can I just say "it's magic" since it's magic? Any suggestions or thoughts would be great. Or just run amok with discussion; I'll filter what I want to use!
|
|
|
|
Post by fluke on Dec 3, 2007 20:05:02 GMT -5
Myrthman,
If the details are necessary to the plot, you are obligated to tell at least those details. For example, DragonLance: Legends trilogy is a fantasy time travel. The instructions on how to travel in time and its limitations are described for plot reasons. In short, if a human, elf, or ogre is sent through time, he or she can only observe. They may interact, but the outcome of events will not be changed. However, if a dwarf, kender, or gnome is sent, the past can be changed.
Naturally, a kender is sent back in time by accident in the book. When the villain (who is from the future) realizes this, he changes his plans to accommodate and realizes that he can be killed now. Quite a shock since his evil plot centered on his invulnerability.
|
|
|
|
Post by myrthman on Dec 5, 2007 1:35:34 GMT -5
I'll have to check that out. I hadn't considered different rules for different races. But I guess under the umbrella explanation of "it's magic," anything can happen.
Wasn't there another Dragonlance series dealing with time travel where Caramon, Raistlin, and (Kender's name) go back after being retired from adventuring for a while? That's not Legends is it?
|
|
|
|
Post by fluke on Dec 5, 2007 23:31:45 GMT -5
Myrth,
That is Legends. Raistlin has the evil plot.
Frank
|
|
|
|
Post by myrthman on Dec 6, 2007 1:36:00 GMT -5
Ok. I've read it. I'll have to check it out again. Thanks for the tip.
|
|
|
|
Post by fluke on Dec 6, 2007 9:18:04 GMT -5
Myrth,
I meant to write more last night, but when the baby is ready for bed, everybody goes to bed. :-)
The kender is Tasslehoff Burrfoot, and the reason that kender aren't supposed to travel in time makes perfect sense within the mythos of DragonLance. Humans, elves, and ogres are the three created races, each created by one of the top gods, Gilean, Paliadin, and Takhisis. They are thus "within time," but the other races are accidents of one kind or another.
The gods of Krynn are so pathetic most of the time. They are nothing more than big people. Spoiled, big people.
Frank Luke
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeff Gerke on Dec 6, 2007 12:03:11 GMT -5
Like the Greek and Roman gods, then.
|
|
|
|
Post by fluke on Dec 6, 2007 14:11:27 GMT -5
And Scandanavia and Mesopotamia. Pretty much all the gods except the true one. The standards that their gods set are pretty low. Reading some of the myths are like reading soap opera scripts.
|
|
|
|
Post by myrthman on Aug 10, 2010 0:08:28 GMT -5
Revisiting this thread with some more details.
I've decided to include at least a little explanation. Here's the basics: the "machine" is actually one of the Trees of the First Planting (from which all other trees come) with a magical ax ("...of Time") embedded in it. This allows the tree to become a portal to the past and future. Going back in time is the easy part, with the usual caveats of not interfering with history: you follow the tree's annual trunk rings back to the point when you need to be, stand still for a moment, and viola! You're then!
Now (or rather, then), going forward in time (specifically to return to your own time) seems to escape me at the moment (now). The tree you enter in the past (or present) will not have rings for the present (or future) because it hasn't grown that much. I've thought of taking leaves from the tree back with you and then eating them to return to the leaves' starting point, but that led to the possibility of the leaves being lost, stolen, or given away (which isn't necessarily a bad thing for plot purposes). I also thought of a limited amount of time to walk in the past and then automatically whooshing back to the present (also some interesting plot possibilities however, I want one character to stay behind).
Anyone have other ideas?
|
|
|
|
Post by metalikhan on Aug 10, 2010 1:05:17 GMT -5
The leaves might also limit how much time can be spent. Once they're plucked from the tree, would they begin to wither, dry out to the point of uselessness?
Another possibility might be a place on the tree's trunk where you could plug it (i.e. cut a plug) to have a section of the growth ring for the year you want to return to. Maybe once you return, you have to re-insert the plug so the tree can reseal itself rather than oozing like sugar maples at sap harvest.
Don't have any ideas about visiting the future if the travel depends on the growth rings. It's hard to travel to a when that hasn't happened.
|
|
|
|
Post by myrthman on Aug 10, 2010 21:33:31 GMT -5
I really like the idea of the leaves withering. That's excellent! I also thought of the Ax of Time being a conduit of sorts for traveling forward. Maybe some combination of the two ideas... Excuse me while I set my head on my fist, my elbow on my knee, and my brain to pondering.  |
|
|
|
Post by metalikhan on Aug 11, 2010 10:27:31 GMT -5
Do I understand this right? The Ax of Time has a physical reality as well as a magical & metaphorical presence. A question if that's the case. Might the Ax handle have rooted alongside the Tree? I'm thinking in terms of some of the more creative & strange bonsai. If so, the metal of the Ax head might be the actual passage point since it intersects the Tree's rings. The handle-roots could provide the way to future time since it is outside of the Tree itself which only has rings for the past. So, does the person traveling actually enter the Tree? I've seen trees that have hollows reaching as deep as the heartwood (such as from an old lightning wound or a split from growing around some barrier in its way); the tree is alive but shaped so you can reach into it or even step into it (if it's a really large tree). (And providing some tooth & claw-gifted critter hasn't made the hollow its home.) Just thinking. The concept sent me to my sketchbook — odd things show up at the end of the pencil. Sketching helps me work out troublesome ideas by visualizing them. Like Old Lodge-skins said, Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't.  |
|
|
|
Post by Jeff Gerke on Feb 13, 2011 9:35:51 GMT -5
For me personally, I think the idea of time travel within a fantasy is brilliant. A mixture of genres. Unexpected and fresh. As for how much needs to be explained, I think there would need to be "rules," but it could all be fantasy-themed technobabble.
Jeff
|
|
|
|
Post by joeychips on Feb 17, 2011 16:48:58 GMT -5
Unless you have an innovative way to explain time travel, I don't see a strong reason to explain the process in any great detail. I am thinking of Somewhere in Time as well as The Time Traveler's Wife. Those stories didn't even try to explain it with any real depth. So go for it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeff Gerke on Feb 23, 2011 10:03:18 GMT -5
Just be sure there are rules and limitations. That's what makes it feel realistic. But if the person can perform the power whenever he chooses and to whatever degree, it's not technology or magic, it's a superpower. You'll notice that even Superman had Kryptonite. If you don't have something to limit it, it's unrealistic and non-dramatic.
|
|
